


To Prove You're Alive

by DynamiteMars



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Just Roll With It (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Awkward Romance, Buckle up its a long one y'all!, F/M, Hospital vists, Literally every character will show up at some point, M/M, POV Alternating, Proposals, Shitty dads, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24371155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DynamiteMars/pseuds/DynamiteMars
Summary: Sylnan bought a coffee shop in the hopes that it could keep him and his family eating, along with other less legal and less important reasons. It's struggling and shows in the bags under his eyes.Br'aad returned to the wharf hoping time past would be enough to reconcile him and his brother. It's long enough for them to just politely ignore the issues. A sense of deep gnawing dissatisfaction at the cards he'd been dealt and drawn really doesn't help either.Through meet cutes, spontaneous first dates, proposals, and daddy issues: They're all just figuring it out together.
Relationships: Br'aad Vengolor/Taxi, Br'aaxi, Br’aad Vengolor & Sylnan Vengolor, Kathnan, Sylnan Vengolor/Kathrine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	To Prove You're Alive

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back baby! I'm ready to write another longass Br'aaxi fic, this time with straight people rights. I apologize if this chapter is a tad bland, i'm getting back into the swing of things and if you hate this one, the next one will definitely be more interesting. 
> 
> I have spent an unwarranted amount of time planning and procrastinating but, getting excited about writing is half the battle, especially when most of the time i'm struggling to slow down from drawing.
> 
> ANyway, enjoy y'all!

No matter how many times he’d practiced and tested, at least once a day Br’aad got hit in the face with steam from the coffee machine. Today just happened to be extra unlucky, for the third time in the morning he wiped away at his slightly boiled skin and took an annoyed step backward. 

“SYL! The machine did it again!” His voice rang out across the mostly empty cafe. 

Only a few people, mostly regulars, were unlucky enough to be disrupted by his shouting. Not that he would have cared to be more quiet if there were more customers around. 

“Again? Is there anyway you can be more gentle with it? We really can’t afford to get a new one yet…” Sylnan poked his head out from the office. 

He’d been hole-ing himself up in there more and more often. He’d bought the coffee shop in hopes that it could keep them both eating, but owning the business was busy, tiring, and worst of all: not very successful; The stress was probably getting to him. Yet every time Br’aad tried to help him, take on some of the burden, he got pushed away. Sylnan’s eyebags deepened every morning mirroring his brother's worsening concerns. 

“You can’t just ‘be more gentle’ I'm just pushing all the normal buttons and levers. Do you want me to seduce it or something?” 

“If that works? Sure, go for it.” He squeezed the bridge of his nose with an exhausted sigh. “I need to get back to work.” 

“Did you even sleep last night?” Br’aad called out. 

“That’s none of your business.” He shot back and stumbled back into his office. Br’aad stared at the shut door. 

It felt like a timer was counting down until his brother would crack, and he couldn’t find any way to help him. There wasn’t any time to think about it now though, he had to focus on his job. Though the coffee shop was near completely empty, he had its constant responsibilities. Letting out a resolved breath he smoothed out his coffee stained apron and turned. He jumped back in alarm. A customer had managed to sneak his way up to the counter without him realizing. He quickly readjusted and put on his best customer service smile. 

“Sorry sir! I didn’t hear you come in, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.” 

“Ah! Sorry, i didn’t mean to startle you at all.” He was a Tabaxi with orange hair that flicked into seemingly random directions. It was a little strange to see a Tabaxi in the middle of the wharf, a city that didn’t exactly take kindly to non-human people. Then again a regular of their coffee shop was a purple haired Teifling named Velrisa. 

She sat in one of the corners of the establishment, like she did every morning. She said she was studying for medical school when Br’aad had asked her. He didn’t even know the city had a college, maybe the city was finally becoming less of a shithole. Then again with the current mayor playing tyrant? Probably not. 

“It's no trouble, don’t you worry”- he flashed a finger gun paired with a wink -”What can I get you?” The stranger eased up a little, the tension from his shoulders releasing a bit. 

“Can I get a black coffee with a shot of blueberry” Br’aad narrowed his brow in brief confusion, then shook it away. Who was he to judge what this dude wanted to order? Even if it was just simplistic enough to really capitalize on the weirdness of the single add on. Even if the sudden confidence in his voice meant this was definitely not the first time he’d ordered this horror. 

“Sure, can I get anything else for you? The croissants are pretty good.” He leaned on the counter as he typed the drink order, pushing delinquent strands of hair away from his face. 

“I’ll have one of those…” His voice devolved back to awkwardness. 

“Good choice!” He gave another smile to the tabaxi who tensed up again. “If you pay here-” Br’aad pointed at the other end of the register.”- I’ll get that started for you. Can I get a name for the order?” 

“Oh, its Taxi.” 

“That’s a very handsome name, Sa-xi…” He spelled it out on the cup. 

“Wh- That's not….” The Tabaxi started but, Br’aad had already turned to make the order. Getting to purposefully misspell everyone's name was just one of the perks of the job. 

Br’aad cringed while making it, it was the order someone would order by mistake. Which made him gnawingly curious of the type of person to order it. 

Sneaking a peek at the customer, he saw that he made his way to the pickup counter. He tapped a rhythm out with his fingers atop it, checking his phone every now and again. He never really paid attention to customers much, besides the regulars of course, but this one was a little different. To put it short: he was pretty attractive, The ginger fur glittered slightly from the morning light coming in through the windows and his green eyes were vibrant. 

_Huh, I didn’t know I was a bit of a furry_

He pressed the wrong button allowing steam to shoot out again, he stumbled backward taken off guard. 

“Are you alright?” Taxi called out from behind the counter. What was that accent? Irish or maybe Scottish? Whatever it was, he made it sound great. Grumbling, Br’aad held out a thumbs up. 

“Just great!” 

“You’re going to blind yourself if you keep literally boiling your eyes Br’aad.” Velrisa called out from across the room. 

“It's just hot water, water can’t hurt you.” He removed the hand nursing his face, confident in his statement. 

“What about drowning?” Another regular of the cafe spoke up from a table to his left. His name was Mountain, likely for his stubborn and unmoving personality and not his dwarvish height. It sometimes felt like he came to the cafe to complain that they didn’t sell alcohol along with his coffee. 

“It’s not the water's fault though.” 

“I’d have to side with the dwarf on this one” Taxi piped up. “Nature will kill you if it believes you deserve it, it's a part of the cycle of life.” Everyone stared at him for a moment. 

“You know what? I’m on Br’aads side now, I don’t know about any of that hippie shit.” Mountain said through a grimace 

“Hippie shit?!” Taxi was ignored. 

“Mountain, that's the first time you’ve ever agreed with me, i’m touched.” Br’aad held his hand over his heart mockingly. 

“Don’t get used to it kid, I just don’t want to get involved with the cats nature shit.” 

“Nature shit?!” Taxi continued sputtering. Br’aad leaned across the counter to lightly touch his arm, pulling his attention away from the dwarves' callous attitude. 

“He doesn’t mean anything by it, right Mountain?” He shot over a pointed look, receiving a noncommittal grumble. With a roll of his eyes he turned his attention back. 

“Anyway, what brings you to town? I don’t think i’ve ever been lucky enough to see you around before.” He twirled a strand of hair around his finger. Maybe he _was_ flirting with customers a little, something his brother had urged him not to do, but he was only so strong. 

“I enrolled into a college here. It's King's university, a bit from here.” 

“Oh! Another college student, when was this place even built? The last time I was in the wharf there was basically nothing” He rambled. 

“Only about a year ago” Velrisa piped up again, closer now, she sat at the ‘sort-of’ bar seating at the counter. 

“Sounds about right for this place, basic schooling was a struggle for this town when I was a kid.” 

“You grew up in this? No offense Br’aad but it's a bit…” Mountain gestured vaguely. 

“Shitty? Yeah, but it is what it is. The streets aren’t too bad once you know how to get around them.” 

“Is it really that bad around here?” Taxi asked cautiously. 

“Yeah, you guys should probably get a taser or something”. Br’aad laughed 

“Noted.” Velrisa grimaced. 

The group kept talking but Br’aad walked away. He grabbed a croissant from the display and tossed it in a bag with a napkin, rolling it at the top. Grabbing his trusty sharpie out of an apron pocket he marked out Taxi’s cup. Where there had originally been a caution label regarding the drinks temperature, was replaced with “Caution! You’re hot” in spaced out letters like shitty blackout poetry, he circled the message so it couldn’t be missed. 

He might as well shoot his shot a bit, it wasn’t like there was anything else to do now that he’d returned to the wharf. Not that it was exactly a bad thing to be back, he’d missed Sylnan and the time away certainly helped dull the pain from the last conversation they had before he left. 

Yet somehow, nothing felt like it had changed. Like they were stuck in a never ending loop of politely ignoring the issue, marked by awkward silence and even worse attempts at conversation. 

Br’aad shook his head pulling his thoughts back from the deep end. He didn’t have time or energy to address the issues and he’d been blankly staring at the coffee cup in his hands for far too long. He grabbed the rest of the order and walked to give it to Taxi. 

“Hey Br’aad, is Sylnan in?” The voice of Katherine rang out from the door, interrupting his action. The rest of the patrons glanced over but continued their conversation. 

“Yeah he’s in the back, per usual.” 

Since the time he’d been back she’d seemingly been the only solace for his stress. She was the only one who could convince him to take a break from whatever it was he did in there. She was also the only other employee at the cafe. She gave him a smile and walked into the backroom. If she was here that meant his shift was almost over. With renewed vigor, he tuned back into the conversation Velrisa, Taxi, and Mountain were still having. 

“Yes, you need water to live but, it's not even a mid tier drink.!” Taxi argued with them 

“How can you even say that? Water is great!” Vel quickly shot back, a rare moment of rage. Br’aad watched the argument for a moment in confusion, then he pulled Taxi’s attention and handed him his order. 

“Honestly in my opinion milk is the best.” Br’aad interjected causing the three others to all make noises of objection. 

“You’re just fucking wrong” Mountain slammed back his coffee and leapt off his chair “You’re just lucky I don’t have time to argue about it.” 

“I ought to be leaving as well, I have class in about an hour.” Vel offered a small wave and left to collect her things, Leaving Taxi and Br’aad the only ones at the counter. 

“I assume someone like yourself also has places to be, hopefully you’ll come back soon.” Br’aad balanced his head on his crooked arm, hoping that he really didn't have any places to be. 

“Well after such um, _interesting_ , conversation, I’m practically obligated.” Taxi laughed, leaning against the counter as if expecting a longer conversation. Br’aad’s heart did a little happy dance. 

“I’m glad to hear that I’ll get to see your pretty face again. It's surprisingly hard to get foot traffic in here. The business is appreciated.” He nearly pinched himself, he really shouldn’t be telling customers about the struggles of the business. 

“Maybe you should take up Mountain’s bar idea.” Taxi suggested. 

“Did he already pitch that to you? Maybe we should!” Br’aad shrugged. 

“The college should start providing enough tired and hungover students soon enough.” He used his hands to talk. They didn’t look strong but, the toe beans made them look like paws which was definitely adorable. 

“I hope so! They’re basically the reason coffee shops exist but, we don’t have to keep talking business, I get enough of that from my brother.” Br’aad’s expression soured, familial issues really wasn’t that great of a segway topic. 

“Have you had a chance to see much of the city yet?” Great subject change Br’aad! He berated himself. You might have as well asked him about the weather! 

He turned away and began untying his apron to cringe in peace. Why was casually flirting so difficult? He was really fucking out of practice, not that he ever really got much in the first place. Growing up in the wharf really didn’t offer up that chance. His year away, there had been Bailey, but that didn’t exactly turn out sunshine and rainbows. 

If the bland conversation topic annoyed him, Taxi did not show it. 

“I was actually going to try and do that today.” 

“Well, i’m happy to be a stop along the way of that.” Br’aad turned back around with a casual shrug, before returning to failing at untying his apron. 

“I don’t even really know what possessed me to come in, I don’t drink coffee very often. I think this was just the first non sketchy place I saw.” 

“Maybe it was the hot barista.” Br’aad poked his cheek and winked. Taxi’s fur bristled into what could only be interpreted as a blush. 

“If you would like to think that.” He laughed, clearly trying to cover it up. 

“It's okay Saxi, I know I'm just too sexy for people to resist sometimes you don’t have to admit it.” Br’aad felt empowered knowing he had the power to make this man blush. 

“Maybe you’re right, maybe it was one of those subconscious decisions...” His tone conveyed that there might be a hint of truth, unless Br’aad was looking far too into it, which was possible, almost glaringly possible. 

“If the hot barista shows up let them know I showed up then.” He laughs. 

“You wound me Saxi.” Br’aad mocks pretending to be offended. 

“Anyway, I don’t want to be keeping you too long, there’s a lot of shady alleyways and bars you shouldn’t go in to see in this town.” Taxi gets 

“I would get out there but if this city’s as dangerous as you said, maybe that’s not the best.” 

“Well… it is but I was mostly joking, If you have a guide you should probably be fine.” A plan formulated in his mind. Every brain cell he had lunged to stop it, good thing there weren't that many of them. 

“A guide? where would I get a guide?” He cocked his head to the side. 

“You could wait 15 minutes.” Br’aad continued twisting his hair around his finger, this time a little more anxious than flirtatious. 

“Oh, do you have a city tour guide that comes in or something?” Taxi scratched at the fur on his chin thoughtfully. 

“I mean my shift ends in 15 minutes and i’d love to show you around.” He made eye contact, waiting on the tabaxi to either accept or turn him down, even if it was most likely the latter.


End file.
